Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Short Interest Update

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) saw a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 564,500 shares, an increase of 27.2% from the August 31st total of 443,700 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 314,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $135,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares in the company, valued at $1,274,776.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Matson news, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $135,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,274,776.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,028,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 215,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,546,006.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,592 shares of company stock worth $11,389,694 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at about $759,000. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Matson by 98.5% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,906 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after buying an additional 4,420 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Matson by 57.8% during the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 101,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,228,000 after acquiring an additional 37,000 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Matson by 1.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,923 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Matson by 126.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 240,117 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,448,000 after acquiring an additional 134,092 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX stock traded up $1.87 on Monday, hitting $143.80. 60,623 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 280,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Matson has a 12 month low of $82.68 and a 12 month high of $144.93. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $132.59 and a 200 day moving average of $122.56.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.26. Matson had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $847.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $861.68 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Matson will post 11.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MATX. Stephens increased their price target on Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

About Matson

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.